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#58. The Substandard on The Trip to Spain, Road Trip Movies, and ’90s Classic Rock
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Note: JVL is absent from this episode for a second consecutive week. Weekly Standard staff writer Mike Warren again fills in as third host. The episode opens with a faux endorsement from "Bill Kristol" praising Mike Warren as the best thing to happen to The Substandard, and the hosts confirm JVL will return next episode. A running joke throughout is that the show has become a "whorehouse" of sponsor reads and product requests.
Reviews: The Trip to Spain — Sonny reviewed it (Vic hadn't seen it yet at taping; Mike Warren had seen the first two films). Sonny calls the series "a thinking man's Entourage" — wealth porn scaled down to nice restaurants, good hotels, and European drives rather than Los Angeles excess. He explains the core dynamic: Steve Coogan plays a more successful but deeply unhappy man clinging to his Oscar nomination for Philomena to validate himself, while Rob Brydon is a pleasant hack whose impressions are derivative but who has a warm home life and genuine contentment. Sonny finds the series surprisingly deep on competing models of masculinity. Vic adds that he loves it for combining three of his favorite things — British comedy, fine dining, and road movies — and praises two new impressions in this installment: Mick Jagger (involving physical comedy) and John Hurt (unexpectedly spot-on from Coogan). Both note that the film's food sequences — octopus and prawns on an open grill, tiny Spanish chorizo — function as pure gastroporn. The recurring song is "Windmills of Your Mind," originally from the 1968 The Thomas Crown Affair.
Dudes Chatting — Road Trip Movies and '90s Classic Rock: Sonny provokes a listener debate by complaining that Smash Mouth's "Walking on the Sun" was played on a classic rock station, raising the question of whether classic rock is a genre or simply whatever was popular 20 years ago. Mike Warren leans toward the latter; Vic argues the format originated around 1965 (pegging its start to the Stones' "Satisfaction") and that grunge/alternative bleeding into rotation represents mission creep. Road trip movie rankings follow. Vic's top picks: Cannonball Run #1, The Trip #2, National Lampoon's Vacation #3. Sonny: National Lampoon's Vacation #1, Easy Rider #2, and a tie between Road Trip and EuroTrip #3. Mike Warren: Planes, Trains and Automobiles #1, Mad Max: Fury Road #2 (generating mock outrage), National Lampoon's Vacation #3, with The Muppet Movie, Dumb and Dumber, Tommy Boy, Rain Man, and Easy Rider in the top ten, plus It Happened One Night at #5.
Box Office: The Hitman's Bodyguard fell to $10M in its second week; Annabelle: Creation at $7M; worst overall weekend at the box office since late September 2001.
Closes with Spirit of the Week (a $10 bottle of Rioja brought by Sonny in honor of The Trip to Spain's Rioja region setting), a Corrections note (Vic clarifies that actor Jay Thomas died but he had not mentioned Thomas on the show and does not accept credit for the curse), and a brief farewell to Mike Warren on his final episode.
Full transcript
Vic00:00:00Hi, Bill Kristol here. The replacement of Jonathan Last by Mike Warren, the best thing that's happened to The Substandard.
Guest00:00:30But, and, you know, you've got the old sort of peacock thing, you know. Sorry. Sorry. Sorry. Keep going.
Vic00:00:43Hello, and welcome back to TheSubstandard, brought to you by Dollar Shave Club. Stop spending a fortune on gimmicky shave tech you don't need. Make the smarter choice by joining Dollar Shave Club. Get your first month for only five bucks with free shipping by going to DollarShaveClub.com slash Substandard. Hello, and I'm Victor Matus, along with Sonny Bunch and special guest host Mike Warren. Yes, that's right, everybody. The surprise, the cat's out of the bag now. People were either tuning in in droves or they were tuning out and we're not sure, so we might as well just come out with the truth. Sonny?
Sonny00:01:17Yeah, well, Mike is just filling in for last week and this week. Frankly, we were going to keep the joke going. We were going to go and get another Weekly Standard employee and have him fill in and be, and the joke at the end would be like, remember on Mad Men how they kept getting new movies? New Bobby Drapers? That's right. But instead, we decided to stick with Mike Warren because of his familiarity with the various topics of today, and also we were too lazy to ask anyone else. We didn't want to be rejected, also.
Vic00:01:45He did fine enough last week.
Sonny00:01:47He was okay.
Vic00:01:48Yes. But this is my last time. That's right. This is the first time I'm hearing this, so that's all.
Sonny00:01:54You need to read your contract carefully.
Vic00:01:56It was for a two-show contract.
Sonny00:01:58Two-show contract. Oh, maximum. It's not minimum. Good to know, Max. Good to know. Guys, thanks.
Vic00:02:04I'd like to remind you also that The Substandard is available on iTunes, Google Play, and now Stitcher. Just look under Podcasts and search for Substandard. You'll easily find us. Please subscribe, tell your friends, and leave a review. Speaking of which, Sonny, you were right. We did, in fact, pass the milestone by Thursday of 300 reviews. We're over 300 now, and I will just give a special shout-out to Ed Miranda. I don't know if that's really his name. Who says, Lucky me, I'm the 300th review. Yes, you are, Ed. Good for Ed. Good for Ed. That's kind of like commenting on the first on a video or a website and just saying first. There's nothing more substantive to the comment. Shut up.
Sonny00:02:49Shut your mouth, Mike Warren. You know what?
Vic00:02:51It's the last one. I'm going out. You're going out in flames.
Sonny00:02:54I'm just glad we had a 300th review. That makes me happy.
Vic00:02:58We were joking about how we would have. We surpassed it by that time, but I was like, I don't know, was that 297 for a while? Then we had a nice little jump. The other thing is, it actually is hard to time. It's like on a radio show. It's a B hour, whatever, 70th caller, and you just got to keep on calling in order to make it happen, and then you get free tickets. There you go. Okay. How are we, gentlemen? Mike, how about you? Well, the exciting conclusion to last week's mulch story is that the mulch is all laid in the backyard. And elsewhere, and my son asked me this morning, he looked out into the driveway where this giant mountain of mulch has been all for the last week and a half, and he said, where's the mulch, Daddy? I said, it's all gone. He goes, did you throw it away in the garbage can? I said, no, I did not. Aw. Yeah. So you actually- He's 17, too. That's the weirdest part about it all. It's like, really? You were a child when you were eight. You were on some sort of strange antibiotics, the kind they give the chickens. Okay. I'm just, I'm riffing here. I'm riffing. All right. All right. That was a- A 2020 special about chickens in Puerto Rico. I'm not making this up.
Sonny00:04:03Okay. They started having babies when they were eight? I don't understand what's going on.
Vic00:04:06They were eating chickens that had antibiotics, and then they were reaching puberty at like eight or nine. It was crazy. Look it up on the internet. It's true. So you used the entire pile? Yeah. I used the entire pile. Yeah. It was a lot. And I actually ran out of space that I had cleared. So you just started sprinkling it in random places? Exactly. Exactly. Filling in the gaps. Right. Exactly. So again, the exciting conclusion. The thrilling story that all the Substandard fans loved hearing about.
Sonny00:04:32Somebody weighed in and said how much a cubic- Yeah.
Vic00:04:35They said it was like 800, 900 pounds, 700, 800 pounds. And how many of those? I had six. So you had like two tons of mulch. Yeah. It was the most working out I've done in like five years.
Sonny00:04:47Wow. How are you feeling? I'm feeling good.
Vic00:04:50Feeling strong? A little sore in the legs. Feeling strong? Let's move on. Yes. I had a nice weekend. My kids and my wife were away. Not that that has anything to do with each other. Summer of Vic. Summer of Vic. It was a summer of Vic. I did go back to Hunan Gate because I was certain that ... I said, last time I was there it was like a Sunday, and I said, where's the buffet? She goes, oh, only weekdays. She said, oh, only weekdays. Excuse me. And then I- Wait. What did she say? I've got a tangent on this. Okay. I'm going to go off on it later on. Okay. Good. And so I come back on the weekday after work, and I said, where's the buffet? Oh, only weekday lunch. I said, oh, you're killing me over here. How many more? There's only so much summer of Vic left.
Sonny00:05:31Go to the Bailey's Crossroad one.
Vic00:05:32I haven't been. I don't know if it's any good. We'll find out, and hopefully that's on a weekend lunch or something.
Sonny00:05:38Well, the three of us tried to go to- That's right. Did we talk? The three of us tried to go to the City Buffet of China in Washington, D.C., which is like three blocks from the Weekly Standard office, and it was closed. We got there, and it shut down.
Vic00:05:51The cruel thing was the sign is still open.
Sonny00:05:52The sign's still set open. The sign is up, and I'm like, yes, this is great. And we get there, and it's just empty. It's empty. The tables are all- And I was just like, God, that is the worst.
Vic00:06:03Maybe it was a bad business model because people just kept on eating more than they were paid.
Sonny00:06:07I mean, it had been open for a long time in D.C. Their rent probably went up. I don't know. Or something. We mentioned them on the show, so they died.
Vic00:06:16We actually probably did.
Sonny00:06:18Well, we mentioned Toby Hooper the other day. Oh, because of the poltergeist thing? And he's dead. He died. He died over the weekend. I know. I saw that.
Vic00:06:26I forgot that we mentioned Toby Hooper. Yeah. Because we were talking about- We're- Spielberg secretly directed Poltergeist, not Toby Hooper. Yes.
Sonny00:06:32Well, I mean, this has always been the- Oh, no. Anyway, so I feel bad for anybody we mentioned on today's show. Sorry, Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon. You had a good run.
Vic00:06:42Okay. So, but the kids came back, and my wife, I picked them up at Union Station. But later, last night, I took my son to see, he's already seen The Dark Knight, but we went to see it at the Smithsonian IMAX. Oh, I wanted to go see that. Was it good? I've never seen it in the IMAX before, so it's amazing. It's so big, I almost didn't need my glasses, and I'm blind as a bat. Thank you, Gene. Where are you coming from? What's he doing? No. So, apparently, the Smithsonian's been doing, like, a Nolan Fest all of August. So, I look at the calendar. This is the last one. They did Interstellar, Inception.
Sonny00:07:17Oh. Yeah, I know. I'm annoyed that I wasn't able to go to any of those, because I really wanted to see them on the big screen.
Vic00:07:24And he's actually filmed all those on IMAX machines. Well, he filmed The Dark Knight. Right, like, he filmed, like, six scenes in IMAX, right?
Sonny00:07:30Yeah, he filmed about 25 minutes or something like that in IMAX on The Dark Knight, which was, like, the most at the time. It was groundbreaking. And Interstellar is a little more annoying, I find, on the IMAX big screen, because it, like, is constantly switching aspect ratios. So, like, with Dark Knight, there were scenes that were shot in IMAX, and it's like, okay, those are, like, the scenes. Right. And with Interstellar, there were a lot of different things that were shot in IMAX and a lot of things that weren't. And it's not cutting back and forth so much that it, like, switches from the kind of standard depth.
Vic00:08:01It's weird that you mention that, because when the movie started, it's sort of in letterbox format, and then all of a sudden, at some point, the whole screen is full, and I thought to myself, when did that happen? I didn't even notice it, though.
Sonny00:08:10Yeah. But, you know. Well, it's, again, I think it's a little bit less annoying with The Dark Knight, because it's not the, like, the quick cutting back and forth. There are entire scenes that are filmed in IMAX. Yeah, so it's like the big bank heist. Yeah. The big bank heist that they're getting is shot in IMAX, and it's big. And then it switches to, like, kind of the exposition, and it's, you know.
Vic00:08:31That sort of, the score sort of, like, kicks in, and you've got that. And it's so Hans Zimmer. Yes. It's constantly the ticking. That. Yes. Yes, thank you. And the ticking. Yeah, absolutely, because, you know, things are going on. But there are, you know, every time I see it, I've only actually seen it from beginning to end maybe three times now. Yeah, I know. Shocking. And every time I learn something, I mean, there are so many sort of great big decisions that in many movies, it would be just that one scene. That would be the climax, and then the movie ends. And here you have the scene where he has to choose between Rachel and Harvey, and then you have the other scene with the ferries, boats, there as well, and then other things. And it's just like every, and it's just, and it's long, but it's great. And the other thing is- But it's tight. I mean, it's tight. It doesn't, there's no- It keeps on going. There's no fat. That's right. The cell phone in the guy's stomach, it's so insane. And the only thing I would say is, I mean, there's some weird sort of, you know, like, I wonder how long does it take the Joker to, you know, organize these things? How many, you know, he has to get all these people together to, you know, create the clowns and the hostage situation. I mean, so it gets, you know, really crazy like that. But it was, but again, it's just so amazing. And the, in terms of performances, Eric Roberts is great. Yeah. Yeah. As Moroni, and sort of underrated. Don't stop for nothing. Yeah, no, and he's more, he's more a believable Italian than, I think, Tom Wilkinson. Tom Wilkinson. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's kind of weird. And the other thing, Aaron Eckhart.
Sonny00:09:59Aaron Eckhart.
Vic00:09:59So I knew that, obviously, Heath Ledger gets the Oscar, and it really is well-deserved. But Aaron Eckhart was really good.
Sonny00:10:06Yeah, yeah. You know? Aaron Eckhart's fantastic. He's like an underrated. Yeah.
Vic00:10:10Do you know, can you explain this to us, Sonny? This is probably, all the listeners probably know the answer, but I don't. Why, specifically, they had to switch from Katie Holmes to Maggie Gyllenhaal?
Sonny00:10:21Well, if I remember correctly, the story was that Tom Cruise told Katie Holmes, you can't be in this Dark Knight movie. It's a trash comic book sequel. It'll be terrible for your career, you know? And remember, the first Batman Begins, Batman Begins, you know, did okay box office. Not great. Not great. It was a, I wouldn't say it was a disappointment exactly, but it was definitely not a huge rousing success, like The Dark Knight was, which, you know, grossed $600 million or whatever it was. It's more than a movie. Yeah. It's more than a movie. You know, I do actually, the alternate history where she plays Rachel instead of Maggie Gyllenhaal is kind of a fascinating one, because Katie Holmes has a lot of strengths. She can, she's sometimes not the best actress, and I do think that Maggie Gyllenhaal is better, but, like, the kind of flip side of this is that Katie Holmes is much more attractive than Maggie Gyllenhaal, so, like, it throws, it kind of, like, changes the balance of, you know, kind of why. We're going to get some angry comments on this show. I mean, Maggie Gyllenhaal looks like a turtle, is what I'm saying. She looks like a turtle. Jake Gyllenhaal's brother?
Vic00:11:37Yeah, go ahead, Mike. I was just going to say, but Katie Holmes is doing okay, right? I mean, she was in Logan Lucky last week.
Sonny00:11:43And she has done a couple of kind of indie movies that have had modest returns. I forget what terrible movie that she decided to be in instead of this. Oh, yeah, that's right. I know.
Vic00:11:57It was like a girl heist movie or something. Yes, it was. Yes, it was.
Sonny00:12:02With, like, Queen Latifah, maybe?
Vic00:12:04That's right.
Sonny00:12:04It was a terrible idea. And I just, oh, man. But anyway, that is my understanding.
Vic00:12:09I could say I was going to effort that, but it's not worth it. Especially since you don't have a computer in front of you.
Sonny00:12:15This is why you're not coming back.
Vic00:12:18You need your laptop. Okay. But the other thing was, speaking of Chinese, so we go to the theater. There was a group of Chinese who had come, and they were sitting behind us. And before the movie started, they were very loud and talking in Chinese. And I leaned over to Michael. I said, you know, the people behind us, can you hear? They're speaking in Chinese. And then out loud, Michael goes, culture justice, ah! And I said, I looked at him. I said, what? And he goes, ah! And I said, you can't do that. I said, even if you're a part Chinese, that's totally right. You can't do that. That's terrible. And he just smiled. And I said, okay. That's it. I don't know where he got that idea from.
Sonny00:12:57Who knows where he would pick up something like that. Disgusting.
Vic00:13:00I blame his grandmother. Okay. Sonny, how are you?
Sonny00:13:05I'm great. Let's see. So I've been clearing out. I mentioned that I have like a backlog of Criterion Collection movies that I've like purchased and not watched. Well, Beth was out of town, so I managed to catch up on some of those, including Scanners.
Vic00:13:22Have you watched Scanners recently? You know what I saw? I saw a clip recently on YouTube where he makes the guy's head explode.
Sonny00:13:28Right, right, right. I mean, it's an interestingly bad movie in the way that a lot of like the John Carpenter 80s sci-fi movies are interestingly bad. I mean, the problem with all these- Would you say campy?
Vic00:13:39Would you say campy or schlocky?
Sonny00:13:41I don't know if it's campy exactly. I don't think it's camp exactly. The problem with all these movies is that they have like interesting ideas and kind of neat special effects, and the actors are all terrible.
Vic00:13:51I think Michael Ironside was-
Sonny00:13:54So the only exception to this, and I had forgotten that Michael Ironside was in it, and I'm watching it, I'm like, oh, who is that? That's Mike. Oh, it's Michael Ironside. He's perfect because he looks like a younger Jack Nicholson in this movie. Yes, he does. Yeah, he does. He's playing it with like the kind of crazy eyes and the arch eye, and it really is like Jack Nicholson is in a low-budget sci-fi movie in 1981 or whenever that came out. So that is what I took away from rewatching. Rewatching scanners for the first time in many, many years is that like Michael Ironside totally could have been like the next Jack Nicholson, like crazy Jack Nicholson, not, you know, like Easy Rider Jack Nicholson. So, yeah, and also I painted the rail on the patio of my house, which is, so it was very funny. I, you know, I do a fair amount of, I like do all my own painting. I'm one of these people who like if I can do something, I'm not going to pay somebody else to do it, which means a lot of times. It just doesn't get done for a long time. But painting is the thing I can do. And, you know, 80% of the work with painting is prep work, you know, putting down the tape and like making sure that there's newspaper down and your drop cloths and stuff like that. So, you know, I spent like 30 minutes basically like prepping the space for the painting. And I was using like a spray can, you know, because, again, it's outside and it's easier that way. And so, you know, I do, I'm painting it from white to black. You know, I spray all the black paint on and I'm going around, I'm touching it up. I'm like, oh, yeah, this looks pretty good. This is pretty good. And I'm done and I'm going to like take down all the tape and the paint and stuff. And I'm pulling it up and I'm looking around like, wow, the shadows are weird today. Shadows are weird today. And what I had done was I had not put newspaper down across the whole patio. And the spray paint, I don't know if you know this about spray paint, it sprays. And it kind of had settled down. And there was like a little shadow where all the newspaper wasn't. And I was like, huh, that looks terrible. That is really frustrating. And it was not even just on the patio. It was like down on the sidewalk where I'd like move the welcome mat. You know, there was like a big rectangular space on the sidewalk. So I was like, well, Neighborhood Association is not going to like that one little bit. So after the painting, I ran over to Home Depot and got some, you know, concrete cleaner solution and spent basically more time cleaning the patio off than I did actually spray. Between the prep work and the takedown of the prep work and then the cleanup for afterwards, I probably spent three times as much time as I did actually painting.
Vic00:16:39Well, you know what the lesson learned is. Never paint again. Never work again.
Sonny00:16:45Never do anything on your own. Always pay somebody else to do it. That's right.
Vic00:16:48You were complaining last week on Twitter. I know that's shocking. Twitter.com. Yes, about you were driving somewhere and you were listening to the radio and something came on. And people reacted strongly.
Sonny00:17:01What's going on? I was listening to the local classic rock station, which is 100.3 in Washington, D.C. Big 100.
Vic00:17:09Big 100. I'm glad you didn't say. I thought you were going to say 107.3. If that's classic rock.
Sonny00:17:14107.3 is like Jack. It's like a Jack FM station. The old classic rock station used to be 94.7. The old classic rock station used to be 94.7. Yes. And now it's like light jazz or something. I don't know. So anyway, I'm listening to Big 100.3 and Smash Mouth's Walking on the Sun comes on. And I'm just like, now, I understand that classic rock is not like a designation of a format of music. It's not like Led Zeppelin and, you know, sticks or whatever.
Vic00:17:47And it stops. But classic rock is Led Zeppelin. I mean, isn't that the point? But so this is the debate, right?
Sonny00:17:53Is it actually a format of music? Is it like a type of music? Or is it just whatever was 20 years ago? It was 20 years ago. And, like, the library keeps getting bigger as, like, you keep adding things to it.
Vic00:18:05Does it move up, though? I mean, does, you know, I mean, will the 70s become 70s music and then, you know?
Sonny00:18:10Well, I mean, I don't know. This is one of the reasons why I kind of love XM is because they have, like, an 80s rock station, a 70s rock station, and then they have ones that, like, kind of span everything. They have the spectrum, you know, which goes.
Vic00:18:22The spectrum is. The spectrum is geared to people like me, which is, like, older, older people who like their old music but are kind of curious about. About what's new. What's new, but not what's new, but don't end up having to listen to, you know, Miley Cyrus or something else. Right, right, right. And that, you know, something similar. Kind of eases you into it. Eases it. Okay, so I don't have to listen to all that, you know, garbage, but at the same time, I get to listen to. The cream of the crop. Yeah. Let me, let me, for example, well, who was big last year was that guy who was, he sang that song. Son of a, son of a, I can't even say son of a bitch, you don't have to believe that, you know, and the, and the night sweats, what's his name? I don't know. You don't even know? I have no idea who you're talking about. Oh my gosh. Okay. I'll have to ask our listeners. Yeah, okay.
Sonny00:19:04I don't, I don't know who you're talking about. Okay. Anyway. I listen to the Spectrum sometimes and I always hear the new Red Hot Chili Peppers song. Like, I don't know if they have some sort of deal with the Red Hot Chili Peppers, but I hear that. I hear that, I hear that literally every time I'm in my life.
Vic00:19:16And there was like a new Beck song and I had to hear that.
Sonny00:19:23Classic rock, basically.
Vic00:19:241997. It's interesting, right? Because, hold on one second, Mike. Nate Ratliff and the Night Sweats. Thank you. Ah, Nate. Okay. Go ahead. I still don't know who that is. I don't even, I have no idea who that is. I'm so hip. Go ahead, Mike. So, I was thinking about this particular song, right? Walking on the Sun, which actually references Woodstock and hippies in 1960. I mean, it's kind of interesting that a song that's sort of mythologizing sort of the classic rock era is now classic rock itself. I guess you could include- Very meta. Yeah, it is very meta. I guess you could include Brian Adams' Summer of 69 in that, but that's, I mean, it's- Not to be confused with Ryan Adams. No. Do not confuse the two. Do not confuse the two. Because that's happened on concert, right? To Ryan Adams. Oh, yeah. Ryan Adams did not play in Nashville for like 15 years after somebody shouted out Summer of 69 at a concert there. And he smashed his guitar on the stage and walked off and did not play in Nashville for like 10 or 15 years. Anyway, but I've thought a lot about classic rock because this may surprise you guys. When I was in high school, I was a bit of a classic rock fiend. I made about 20 classic rock compilation CDs that I kept and I printed out little labels and I have them in my CD. But you're young enough that you were just burning CDs from your computer. Correct. Okay. Correct. And it was all legal, I promise. And so I have some opinions about classic rock because I was always trying to decide, okay, what is too, you know, do I go by what I listen to? I listen to on my, down in Atlanta, my local classic rock station. But, you know, that kind of got you out as, I tend to think 1965 is sort of the earliest you can go because that's like early Beatles, early Stones, early Kinks, early Who. You know, that's like my generation.
Sonny00:21:08It basically starts at Satisfaction.
Vic00:21:10Yeah, exactly. I would say Satisfaction is like the first classic rock song.
Sonny00:21:14Because even like the early Beatles stuff, you don't hear, you don't hear like.
Vic00:21:17Yeah, you don't hear like Twist and Shout. Right. Please, please me. Yeah, the earliest you hear is something like Day Tripper or something. I'm 65. At the most. And then it sort of, it kind of bled into the early 80s, you know, but never really got past like.
Sonny00:21:32Def Leppard.
Vic00:21:34See, this is interesting. Not even Def Leppard. Because that's like a little too metal. Yeah. You know, it's like not enough classic rock. I would say the latest it goes is like 1986 Dire Straits. Okay. Because Dire Straits is like. Yeah. Money for nothing. Money for nothing and. Sultans of Swing. Sultans of Swing and all that. But that is like, that's like what the people. Who were like teenagers in the 70s were listening to when they were in their 20s. It was like sort of the extension of. Yes. But then when I was growing up, you used to hear on the classic rock radio station, you used to hear R.E.M. Mm-hmm. Which is crazy, right? Because like R.E.M. is alternative rock. Yeah. And, but I think it had a lot to do with it being. From. A local band somewhat. Oh, okay. You know, being from Athens, Georgia, we were in Atlanta. But then I started hearing on Big 100 and other, when I've been driving around the country, Nirvana, Pearl Jam. Oh, yeah. On classic rock. Classic rock, yeah, absolutely. Now, I don't know. I mean, this seems to me. Live. It seems like mission creep here.
Sonny00:22:33But this is the question, right? What is classic rock? Is classic rock a, is classic rock just perpetually what was in the past? Or is it specifically a genre of music? So the history. And I am like, I am kind of ambivalent on this because like, I think of it as somebody who actually started listening to classic rock station because that was just kind of what was there. It was just like, that is just like another option on the dial. So I don't have like a very strongly held opinion on what constitutes classic rock. I just like.
Vic00:23:07It is a creation of the radio industry, right? This was like a way to keep people of a certain age listening to the radio. Sort of, okay, let's organize all the songs that you've loved. And so FiveThirtyEight, I think, did a really good. Sort of analysis of classic rock stations across the country. And it was interesting to see what bands were more popular in certain regions of the country. Def Leppard, as you mentioned, much more popular sort of in the Northeast, I believe, if I recall correctly.
Sonny00:23:36Like Bob Seger's in the South. Right. And like West. Even though he's from Detroit. Yeah, yeah.
Vic00:23:41And so, you know, it's always been kind of fluid. But I mean, it does sort of, there is sort of a, I mean, it is a time, but it's also kind of a stop. It's a style, too. I mean, it's like a bunch of different types of styles that make up classic rock. But there's something about what happened in the 80s with alternative rock, and then like, you really wouldn't include punk rock or any of that in sort of your traditional idea of what classic rock is. And that's where like Nirvana comes out of, Pearl Jam comes out of sort of punk rock and alternative rock and all these things. As grunge, yeah. And it's sort of, it has now become whatever the popular rock. was 20 years ago. But I don't think that's really how it started out.
Sonny00:24:27But isn't the origin of this just what was popular 20 years ago? I guess so. I guess you're right. I mean, it's like, if the trick is you just want to keep the old people around, like I... Well, now you need more Gen X. Yeah, now you need more Pearl Jam. Now you need more Green Day.
Vic00:24:41Stuff from the aughts, the early aughts. But I think we can all agree that what does not belong is Smash Mouth, right?
Sonny00:24:47Yeah, Smash Mouth's Walking on the Sun. And that's not even like the best Smash Mouth song. Can we be... To be honest... It's not the worst. Well, of course it's not the worst. I mean, I... Aren't they conservative? But what about... No, I don't think so. You're thinking Blues Traveler, who I also hear on classic rock stations now.
Vic00:25:05And I accept that, but go ahead, Sonny.
Sonny00:25:06Well, Blues Traveler also is kind of more in that classic rock vein. Style vein. With, like, harmonicas and, you know... Or Black Crows, Georgia Satellites. It's like Tom Petty here, you know? Yes, exactly. But, like, no, what's the All-Star? All-Star is, like, the best Smash Mouth song. Absolute worst Smash Mouth song. That's like the... My favorite thing on the internet is... The smirk.
Vic00:25:27The smirk on Sonny's face. If you could see this. My favorite... It is like watching a troll sort of come up with his troll in real time.
Sonny00:25:35My favorite meme on the internet right now is, like, taking the All-Star song and then putting other things... Like, speeding it up every time or, like, you know, adding... All-Star, but every lyric is, somebody. Somebody, somebody, somebody.
Vic00:25:52So, I have a good story, actually, about Smash Mouth. Yes. So, about four years ago... You saw them in concert. Yeah. Can I tell my story? No, I need to say something. I said, well, I'm going to have to step on Mike Ward's... Vic is sitting there silently. Why don't you do your read? I'll tease. I'll tease my Smash Mouth story.
Sonny00:26:07Mike, didn't you just see them in concert?
Vic00:26:09Okay, go. That's all I was going to say. Go ahead. Okay, thank you. That was it. It was about four years ago. I think it was actually before I was married, four or five years ago, and we went, my future wife and me, with friends, listeners of the show. Amanda and Joe Lopino-Esposito. Oh, yeah. Hi, guys. Love them. We went to Wolf Trap, which is an amphitheater outside in Northern Virginia, outside of Washington, and we saw, I can't remember what the actual name of the concert was. It was a concert series of the 90s. Was it called 90s Classic Rock Concert Series? No, it was not 90s. It was Classic Rock. It was sort of like Summer of 90s or something like that, and it was organized by Mark McGrath and Sugar Ray. Oh, speaking of the 90s. Yeah, exactly. So it was a, and they tore around the country, and it was terrific. It was Fastball, which you remember from The Way, and the other song, Was Out of My Head, Was Out of My Mind.
Sonny00:27:02Oh, that was Fastball? Yes. It was. And so everybody's like, here's The Way, and then they play that song.
Vic00:27:07You're like, oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.
Sonny00:27:08I forgot they did that one. Did they just do a two-song set? They did three.
Vic00:27:12How about Dishwalla?
Sonny00:27:13Was Dishwalla there? Dishwalla was not there.
Vic00:27:14How about the Vertical Horizon was there? Oh, Vertical Horizon went to Georgetown. They were my classmates.
Sonny00:27:19Are they Christian rock?
Vic00:27:21Is that Vertical Horizon? No, no, no.
Sonny00:27:22I was going to say, I thought Vertical Horizon was The Cross. No, I don't think so. Am I wrong?
Vic00:27:27Maybe that was like, it was sort of like Creed, like they started off that way, but then they started drinking Heinekens or something. Speaking of great bands, Creed. Creed was not there, Sonny. Vertical Horizon, Gin Blossoms, who were terrific, and they have way more songs than you know.
Sonny00:27:45No, Gin Blossoms have like 10 great songs. Yeah, they do. They were awesome. They're supposed to be the next Beatles. Hey Jealousy may be one of my favorite songs of the 90s.
Vic00:27:52Hey Jealousy. It's terrific. Is it because it reminds you of that, it's a good song, but it also reminds you of a time in your life. Oh yeah, no, totally.
Sonny00:27:57I mean, it reminds me of like being, you know, of like literally just driving around. Literally, you know, just like looking for something to do.
Vic00:28:07Around what year was that, Gin Blossoms? I think I came out in 94, 93 or 94, 95. That's, go ahead, Mike, what you were saying. No, no, no, no. So they were terrific, and then Sugar Ray got up there, and Mark McGrath, I gotta say, he was terrific. And they were, they were fantastic. They basically said. He's a showman. He's a showman. He's a showman. And he said, and he told us exactly, they knew what they were there for, right? They were, they said, we're here to play the songs that you love, and to give you guys a good time, because we know you love these songs. And he gave a great shout out to the troops. It was really, it was really terrific.
Sonny00:28:42And then he went acoustic and just played Beatles covers.
Vic00:28:45This is from my new album, which is sort of experimental jazz, right? Exactly, exactly.
Sonny00:28:50Like Spinal Tap.
Vic00:28:5125 minute long. Like jazz, flute, solo. It was sort of an epic progressive rock, yeah. And so it was terrific. A suite. Yeah, exactly. If you will. So we're having a great time. We're enjoying it. And then the headliners were none other than Smash Mouth. And they get up there. The headliners. So that's like saving the best for last. And the headliners, Smash Mouth gets up there. They've all got their sunglasses on. It's dark by now. It's dark. They've all got their sunglasses on. They look like they could not, they would rather be anywhere else than they were here. But they have to, because they need the money. Exactly. So they played like all these songs that nobody's heard of. And it was just like going on and on and on. They did that terrible cover of Why Can't We Be Friends. Remember they did that? Oh, God. And it just. Ear cancer. On the record, it goes on for a long time, right? Yeah. Why can't we be friends? All right. Oh, it went on for a long time. So Melissa and I just left. We were just like, forget this. And I think I could hear as we were walking, you know, somebody wants. I was like, all right, I'm so glad we're out of here. Everybody was driven away. That's a good Smash Mouth impression, by the way. Thank you very much. So anyway, so that's Smash Mouth sucks is my. But that wasn't like the worst concert you've been to. No, it wasn't. Yeah. What was the worst concert? I don't know. I don't know what the worst. Because nothing comes to your mind. Nothing comes to mine. I was just curious when you were talking about it, because like you walked out, obviously. Right. No, I can't.
Sonny00:30:12Was it a smart choice to walk out?
Vic00:30:14No.
Sonny00:30:15Wait, am I skipping ahead? Am I skipping? You are skipping ahead. But you know what? Wait, wait, hold on. We might as well do it now. Hold on. Well, no, hold on. So this. So one of my favorite concert experiences, I went to see in the early aughts. Yes. Like the early aughts, I went to see at the 930 Club. So this was like back when the 930 Club was in. Was cool. Yeah. I saw a concert that was, it was Sponge. Yes. Seven Mary Three.
Vic00:30:43Oh. Seven Mary Three or 311. I always get them confused. No, Seven Mary Three.
Sonny00:30:48Or E6. Seven Mary Three only had two popular songs, and 311 has been. We've been cranking out hits for decades now. Seven Mary Three, Spin Doctors.
Vic00:30:58Oh, yes. And, oh, God, I forget who the last one was.
Sonny00:31:02It may have. Two Princes. It may have been the Gin Blossoms. It was either the Gin Blossoms or Collective Soul. I forget which. Well, I saw Collective Soul live. But I think it was Gin Blossoms. But my friend and I who were there, we were actually only there to see Sponge. We really loved Rotting Piñata. It was like one of our favorite albums. And Sponge was playing in front of literally like 50. There were like 50 people on the floor of the 930 Club, or maybe like 100 people. And we were kind of like really close to the stage. And the lead singer was so angry. He was like, yeah, you know, we can't get our new songs on DC 101 anymore. And like a DC 101 intern was there. She was like, I love you guys.
Vic00:31:41He was like, well, put us on the radio then. We're still good. And it was like, no. It was so sad.
Sonny00:31:47It was one of the saddest things. That's like worse than the spinal tap.
Vic00:31:52In the theme park. I think it was preceded by Puppet Show. The Puppet Show was higher on the marquee. How many times do I have to say, spinal tap, then Puppet Show?
Sonny00:32:03So anyway, that was very similar. We actually ended up leaving after the first song of the Seven Mary Three set, because they played Water's Edge, which is actually not bad.
Vic00:32:13And then it's like, go out on top. And then it was like, well, we're done here. One of the worst concerts I'd ever been to was also in the 90s, but it was in 91s. So early 90s, which really doesn't get, that's still sort of 80s. Yes, you might not have even been born yet, but. I was born. Okay. I don't want to know how old you were. And it was really because I went to this concert because it was like fear of missing out. FOMO. Yes. And so it was a high school friends of mine, a group of guys and girls, senior year. And they said, they're all going. And I don't want to, I mean, I'm very picky about going to concerts. You know, it's got to be something I really like. And they're all going to this MTV concert at the. Garden State Art Center. And so I was like, okay, count me in. I want to, you know, because I just don't want to miss out. And at that concert, I had to sit through Rico Suave. Do you remember Rico Suave? Rico Suave. Rico Suave. And Color Me Bad. Ooh, yeah, Color Me Bad. Yes, that's with two Ds, right? And the headliner was Belle Biv DeVoe. Do you remember Belle Biv DeVoe? No, I do not. You know, they were like, they were the later version of Remnants of New Edition. So it was Belle Biv DeVoe minus Bobby Brown.
Sonny00:33:21This is really cool. This is really fascinating, because if JVL were here, this would be a whole, this would be like a real back and forth about your terrible, like, early 90s rap bands. Oh, I'm sure he has great stories.
Vic00:33:32Tell us what it was like in the before time. When we were sentient beings.
Sonny00:33:36Grandpa, what was it like to see songs in the live? Did they have ticket prices?
Vic00:33:42I realized I was wasting my time when I'm watching Belle Biv DeVoe shooting hoops on stage and people cheering for them, and they made one basket out of 10. They were so bad.
Sonny00:33:50The highlight. Was it like the Midnight Beats? Madness?
Vic00:33:53No, not even. It was at the Garden State Arts Center. Their big song was Poison, and, Poison. Don't make me repeat that at all. Oh, you do? Okay. You fooled me into singing it. Thank you, Sonny. I have very quickly, you did ask the worst concert I've ever been to. I have very quickly. Yes. When I was at college at Vanderbilt University, we had every summer, at the end of every year, we had a big concert on the Green, and the headliner one year was Lil Jon, and he proceeded to, everybody loved this apparently, but I think everybody loved it. Because everybody was drunk. I did not, I was drunk, but I did not love it. He had a boombox on stage, and by the end, nobody was paying attention to anything, so he just played Journey's Don't Stop Believing, and sang with the recording. And everyone was like, whoa! I was like, this is awful. This is terrible. There was like, the Avett Brothers were up there, they had a bunch of great bands, and we had a headline with Lil Jon. It was not a smart choice. I'll tell you what is a smart choice, the Dollar Shave Club. You'll get a great shave at a great price, conveniently delivered right to your door. It's a no-brainer choice. You no longer have to schlep to the store to buy a cheap disposable razor that gives you a cheap shave, or spend a fortune on razors with gimmicky shaving tech you didn't need. When I use my Dollar Shave Club Executive Razor with their Dr. Carver's Shave Butter, the blade glides ever so gently and gives me such a smooth shave. Plus, their Dr. Carver's Shave Butter is transparent for a more precise shave, helps prevent ingrown hairs, and fights razor bumps. Now, listeners to The Substandard Podcast can make the smarter choice by joining Dollar Shave Club. For a limited time, new members get their first month of the Executive Razor with a tube of their Dr. Carver's Shave Butter for only $5 with free shipping. After that, razors are just a few bucks a month. That's a $15 value for only $5. In your first month, you get an awesome weighty handle, a full cassette of four cartridges, and a tube of their Shave Butter. After your first month, replacement cartridges ship automatically at the regular price. There are no hidden fees and no commitments. Cancel any time you like, but why would you? You can only get... Get this offer exclusively at dollarshaveclub.com slash substandard. That's dollarshaveclub.com slash substandard. Now, I didn't realize we were doing the entire episode on 90s music. We're going to have to move on. Unfortunately...
Sonny00:36:08For those of you who don't like dudes chatting, this is not a... This is not a good episode.
Vic00:36:13This is not your episode. And I had a joke written about working out at the gym, listening to the Lithium Channel, and it was great. If you want to breathe in, breathe out. Thank you. Like you said. Oh, I get it. I get it. Who said that? Who said that?
Sonny00:36:28That's Bush, right?
Vic00:36:29Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I can't tell the difference between Black Crowes and Machine Head. Yeah, that's Crowe. Yeah. Okay. Let's move on. Okay. Over the weekend, the Hitmans bought Hitman's Bodyguard. Hitman's. Hitman's. We're just... This is a great episode. Does the Hitman take the antibiotics? It did $10 million. Annabelle Creation did $7 million. Now, I'd like to remind you, Annabelle is a 15-year-old. It's a 15-million budget, and it's done $77 million. People like whore and dolls.
Sonny00:36:58You know what people like is all those Blumhouse... It's actually the Conjuring extended universe. It's like... They should have a... I mean, it's really fascinating, actually, if we can briefly ramble. The Conjuring came out, and it was a pretty big hit. And then there was the Conjuring 2. And then they have this movie, Annabelle, which is the story of the doll that they tell in its entirety. They tell the whole story. They tell the whole story at the beginning of The Conjuring. So now we have a whole movie based on that, like five minutes of film that we already know the story of. And now we have a prequel to the movie that we are... And these movies just print money. Yeah, I was going to say.
Vic00:37:36And the result is hundreds of millions of dollars. Is this date nights? Who is going to these movies? Young people. And repeat. It's got to be a repeat audience. Okay. Garbage people. And there was a great movie that came out. Actually, it came out technically three weeks ago. It didn't register at all in the box office. It's only done right now, about 284,000 total domestic gross. But I loved it. And obviously talking about the trip to Spain. Well, so... Explain, Sonny. What's happening here? First, I just want to make one more point about the box office.
Sonny00:38:05This was the worst box office in almost 16 years. It's the worst box office since the end of September 2001.
Vic00:38:12There... Geez.
Sonny00:38:13I don't know if you know... I don't... Do you remember what was happening in September of 2001? Oh, my gosh.
Vic00:38:18I have no idea.
Sonny00:38:18We were all huddled around our TVs waiting for George W. Bush to flatten Kabul. That's like... That was what was... That was the last thing. So, nobody was going to the movies. So, thank you, Hollywood, for taking us back to the dark days of 9-11.
Vic00:38:28I believe Hollywood is also blaming it on the Mayweather-McGregor fight. Yeah.
Sonny00:38:33Hollywood is blaming it on a lot of things. You know what they should be blaming it on is their crap movies. Yeah. Yeah. So... The trip to Spain.
Vic00:38:39The trip to Spain, however. Mike, you did not see it. Well, yeah. Thanks for telling me. Yeah. No, I did not. But I've seen the first two. The trip to Italy and, of course, the trip. You get half the credit.
Sonny00:38:49We had him back here because he loves the trip movies. Yes. And he doesn't even bother... And it was available on demand. It's available on on-demand. So this is a new thing, or a relatively new thing, of course, where you get kind of a limited theatrical release, but also everything is available at the same time on on-demand. Theaters really hate this. They hate this because their whole business model is based on having a solid 90- to 180-day window where you can't see things elsewhere. This is how they make their money. This is they get people in, they buy the popcorn, et cetera, et cetera. The future of moviegoing, if the theaters, or if the studios have their way, is to be able to sell to people who want to stay home and also sell to theaters. But it's just, I don't see quite how this works for theaters. The theaters cannot be thrilled by this. Anyway, so The Trip to Spain is the third movie in the Trip series, which is a kind of travelogue feature starring Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon. These are two British comedians. These are two British comedians slash actors slash writers who are kind of friends in real life, and these movies are like semi-fictionalized versions of their real lives. But essentially what it is, is like, I like to think of it kind of as a thinking man's entourage, which is that it has this kind of like casual wealth porn that is not the extravagant, gaudy wealth porn of entourage. It's like, if I had $100 million, what would I do? I'd probably drive around and go to NYC. I'd go to a nice restaurant and stay in nice hotels and, you know, and chat with friends. And like, that's kind of what this movie is. And it is also-
Vic00:40:29Did you say 100 million? Well, I mean, I'm just saying, I'm just throwing a number out there.
Sonny00:40:33I would say 20, 20 million.
Vic00:40:33I'm just throwing a number out there.
Sonny00:40:35You know, whatever. If I had, if I had, if I had $20, just, I would go to the City Buffet of China, but I can't, I can't anymore. But anyway, so, but it's also, and it's also a very interesting portrait of kind of male friendship and this kind of competitive- Oh, yeah, total competitive. Competitive. And this kind of conversational tics that we all have with each other, like when we're hanging out with, with guys we know well. And I, I really love that. It feels very real and very true. And one of the more interesting moments in the trip to Spain, so the, the trip was about Rob and Steve going around England. They go to various restaurants and, you know- In the north of England. It's sort of- In the north of England.
Vic00:41:14But it's very enlightening to many of us who had- Right, exactly. Probably any or low, no opinion or low opinion about English cuisine.
Sonny00:41:19Yeah. That's right. And, and they go to all the nice restaurants. And you see, like, some back, backstage stuff in the kitchens, people cooking it. That's important for them. And it really is, like, it really, I know this is big for you. Gastroporn. Yeah. That's the highlight for me. So, and then there was the trip to Italy, which, same basic idea. They're, they're traveling around Italy and now they're in Spain. And what is, what is really fantastic about this is just kind of the way their various insecurities and, and, and also happiness. I mean, like, this is, this is a movie that is very much about, like, the idea that you can be a, you, you can be totally happy with a fan. Like, the, the contrast between Steve and Rob is very, is very instructive to me. It grows stark, more stark in every episode. It keeps going as, as we're, as we're proceeding in the series. You know, Steve Coogan is, he's been nominated for two Oscars for Philomena. He's very, he's very kind of wrapped up in this idea of success and being a big deal and, you know, people recognizing him and, and wanting to be around him. And, like, when that doesn't quite work out for him, he has nothing to fall back on. He has no, he has no home. Uh, life. He has, he has, he's divorced. He's got a kid who doesn't really want to be around him. He's got, uh, you know, he's got, uh, he, he doesn't have anything, really. He doesn't have anything.
Vic00:42:32A not quite committed girlfriend.
Sonny00:42:33He's got, he's got a, he's got a great apartment. And he's got a Range Rover. Yeah. And he's got, he's got money to go to all these nice restaurants. And he's got a New York Times gig where he can, he can write about it. But he's never happy. He doesn't, he doesn't have anything. He's not happy. And you compare that to, to, to Rob, who, like, he's not, he, he is kind of a hack. His impressions and, like, he's, he, you know, but, but he makes a decent living. And he's got a great family. And he's happy. He's just, he likes, he likes what he has in life. And there, I think there's something very instructive about the, the two competing ideas of masculinity, right? That you have the, you have, like, the, the drive to succeed and be well-known and to, to, you know, just sleep around. And then you have, like, you have building a home. You have building a life. And it, it, I, I, it is, it is a, like, surprisingly. Deep series. Yes. For, for what amounts to, like, two friends driving around and eating nice food. Right. And doing impressions, right? And doing, and doing great impressions. I mean, this is, like, the real draw of the series. It's the comedy of the, like. Right. Of, they, they do, actually, very good Michael Caine impressions. Yeah.
Vic00:43:37I think from the first movie, that was the big, you know, thing was the Michael Caine impression. What did you think, Mike? Did you think that was funny?
Sonny00:43:43What did you think? What did you think of their Michael Caines?
Vic00:43:46Okay. Not great.
Sonny00:43:47Yeah. Mediocre. Yeah. Mediocre.
Vic00:43:48You've heard better? I've heard better. Really? Hmm. No, I mean, but there's not just that. There's the, from the first movie, right? There's the, all the James Bond stuff, right? Yes. There's Scaramanga from Man with a Golden Gun and Roger Moore and all that. No, I agree with you, Sonny, about having not seen the most recent one, that this movie sort of portrays male friendship in a way that is, you would think would be only accessible to men. But actually, for instance, my wife loves these movies. She thinks they're funny as well. And it's sort of nice to see that kind of friendship, you know, given time, something that's much more natural, given time to sort of, to show you how men sort of bond together. And how they cope with middle age and later middle age. I wouldn't know anything about that. Believe me, I found it very affecting. The, one of the things that Coogan keeps saying is, he says, you know, they talk about bringing in a writer to play. To quote, polish his own script for this next movie.
Sonny00:44:53In The Trip to Spain, one of the subplots is he has written, he's written a script and he's wondering why the studio hasn't greenlit it yet.
Vic00:45:00And they talk about, and he'll say, they'll tell Coogan, they'll say, oh, don't worry, this guy's good. He's really up and coming. And then he constantly has to say, I'm not up and coming. I've arrived. I've not up and coming.
Sonny00:45:11I've already came.
Vic00:45:12I've already came. And there was actually a scene where Coogan is at this little restaurant bar alone without a job, and he's chatting up the very attractive chef, and she's very friendly, and he says what he's doing there, and then sure enough, he has to bring it up. Oh, I have a film that was Oscar nominated. I was nominated for an Oscar. He has to bring it up, in case you don't know. And that's what he has to cling to. And I watch it, and I just think to myself, God, I hope I'm never that guy, who at age whatever says, do you know who I am? But to be fair- Did you write a book on vodka? Did you know I wrote the book on vodka?
Sonny00:45:50I literally wrote the book. Well, I mean, this is, to be fair, this is exactly how I am when I'm in New York City, and I'm like, you know, I'm the executive editor of the Washington Free Beacon. You have to remind people.
Vic00:45:59It's a pretty good website. Co-host of the Substandard podcast.
Sonny00:46:02I have a podcast with ones of thousands of listeners.
Vic00:46:05So the reason I love this series, and again, I'm probably going to see it immediately after taping this podcast, the new one, is it combines three of my favorite things, which is British comedy. Yeah. Really fine dining and wine and all that sort of thing. Not that I partake in any of that, but I like it. I like to sort of live vicariously through it. Oh, yeah. And road trips. And that's another part of, I mean, yes, it's the meals when they're sitting down and they're sort of riffing on that, but some of my favorite scenes from the first two are when they're driving on the road. You know, they're doing the Richard Burton sort of every British, you know, historical war drama, that whole riff where they're talking about, you know, we rise at daybreak. You know, that's very, very funny. And they do, you know, they do a terrific Anthony Hopkins. Yes. And so there are two new impressions. I think there are new impressions in this one that I thought were just fantastic, besides Anthony Hopkins they've done before, and I think it's terrific. But Mick Jagger, which is very fun. Yeah, they do an extended Mick Jagger riff, which is great. Physical, which involves also physical comedy. But also John Hurt was really surprising. Coogan surprised me with his John Hurt impression, which was really spot on. As I mentioned, we talked earlier about this, that I called it gastroporn. But those scenes, I love those scenes, and I want to get out there, and I want to go to these places. One thing, you know, chorizo is everywhere now, right? Chorizo. Chorizo is just overrated. But they have a great scene where there's this tiny chorizo, and it looks so good. I'm like, I got to have that. There's, you know, the opening scene on the grill, and I would say it was like octopus, anchovies, prawns on a grill. I think I said that's heaven right there. That's what. Heaven on a plate. Heaven on a plate. The other thing. The other thing is the theme, the running song is Windmills of Your Mind, right? Which, that was a great gag in the trip to Italy, was that they were, they had in their rental car, they had the CD. Oh, right. The old, yeah, it was. The Alanis Morissette CD. Alanis Morissette, which is very funny. Yeah, and it just, it could only play that one song. Right. And so this one is Windmills of Your Mind, and my trivia question for you all is, what movie was that song originally from? I have no idea. No idea. The Thomas Crown Affair. Huh. The original. Right. Right. And then, of course, when they did the reboot, the John McTiernan reboot, they also had the song at the, I think at the end, but it was sung by Sting, and it's excellent. Of course. I thought it was really good. I thought it was really good. Okay, do we have any other thoughts on? Oh, road trip movies, because you were talking about road trip movies.
Sonny00:48:34Mike Warren apparently brought in a list of 20 road trip movies, and we're running out
Vic00:48:37of time here, so I don't know. I'll go through mine first, because they're short, and then maybe Sonny, too. Okay. So, let's see here. Vacation, with Chevy Chase. I think Christy Brinkley's wonderful. John Candy, of course, is great. Holiday, woo-hoo. But also, thank you. Beverly D'Angelo. Everyone says that she's an underrated actor, and I think that's true, because she's great when you see her in other movies, or you see her on Entourage, and she's wonderful. Okay. The trip, the original trip to England, I think that was eye-opening. There were very funny scenes, particularly when Coogan is alone on top of that mountain glacier, and he wants to be alone, and there's a guy, and we've all been in this situation where there's a guy, he can't stop talking. He's got to, it doesn't matter what. Yeah, yeah. We've all been around a guy like that. You know what I'm talking about, Sonny? Okay, and number one road trip movie for me, Cannonball Run. Thank you. Cannonball Run. And I'm saying, I say thank you a lot, but this deserves a real thank you to director Hal Needham, and, because who wouldn't want to go coast to coast with Burt Reynolds and Dom DeLuise, and Farrah Fawcett? I won't do my Dom DeLuise. Thank you. Okay, Sonny Bunge.
Sonny00:49:38I have a tie for third. Road trip and Euro trip, I love both of these, because these are movies that came out when I was in college, so obviously. Those are Jim Swift favorites, too, by the way. Yeah, I'm sure. And the thing I love about Euro trip, and really, you only need, if you have to watch it, you don't have to, but if you want to, the opening sequence with a surprise appearance from Matt Damon, as the, like, punk rock singer. Scotty doesn't know. Scotty doesn't know. Scotty doesn't know. And it really, this is my, this is one of the reasons why I love Matt Damon, is because he doesn't take himself seriously. That's right. He actually, like, I'm sure there are things he takes himself very seriously about. He's like, you know, he's really into Howard Zinn.
Vic00:50:17His causes and his problems. Teachers.
Sonny00:50:19But, like, he, as an actor, he is very much into just kind of doing whatever for fun. And it, this is the perfect representation of that. Number two, Easy Rider, which is, you know, I'm a classic. That's very iconic, as they say. And National Lampoon's Vacation is obviously the best. I mean, that is just, there's no other option for number one. Or is there, Mike?
Vic00:50:43Well, let's kick things off with number ten. No, God, just skip to. No, I'll go through them real quick. Number ten, I Have Easy Rider. Number nine, Rain Man. Number eight, Tommy Boy. Again, these are sort of like. I keep going. All right. Number seven, gotta mention it, The Muppet Movie. Number six, Dumb and Dumber. The original Muppet Movie or the last one? The original Muppet Movie. That was, you know, when they're moving right along. Number five, reach back here. It Happened One Night. Wow. Yes. Clark Gable. Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert. It does not take place at night, for the most part. It does not take place at night. It takes place over one day. And he plays a reporter. That's right. And he travels down to Florida to get the, yeah. It actually stands up. It is not like old movie funny. It is actually funny. By the way, really quickly, I believe that movie was the definitive. Screwball comedy. I was going to say, besides that, that caused the fashion shift because he didn't wear an undershirt. That's right. And so, all of a sudden, men started wearing no undershirts. Okay. Number four, The Trip. The original. Number three, National Lampoon's Vacation. Number two, Mad Max Fury Road. Oh, very funny. You're trying to be very clever here. I'm not trying to.
Sonny00:51:53I'll give you points. You're being very clever. You think you're mixing up genres.
Vic00:51:58Nope, nope. And number one, Planes, Trains, and Automobiles.
Sonny00:52:01Oh, very, very funny. Planes, Trains, and Automobiles. You know what?
Vic00:52:04Correction for me. Number one, Planes, Trains, and Automobiles. Look at that. I correct myself. You'll miss me when I'm gone, guys. Okay. Corrections, additions? None. Absolutely none. Okay. Just a clarification here. Actor Jay Thomas died. I did not. I did not mention him on the show. I believe Shannon Last was concerned. I loved him in Mork and Mindy and his great football coach in Mr. Holland's Opus. Spirit of the Week.
Sonny00:52:29I brought in a bottle of Rioja. Yes. Very themed. I brought this because in the trip to Spain, they mentioned they're in the Rioja region, and I believe it's Rob says, oh, I don't see any vineyards. Where are all the vineyards? But I mean, look, I was in the grocery store, and I saw a $10 bottle of Rioja and a $20 bottle of Rioja, and I was like, well, I can't tell the difference, so I'm going to get the $10 bottle, and it's fine.
Vic00:52:56It's a red wine. I thought you would have gotten the $21. That's what you want to get. As my good friend Ted Allen would say, oh, by the way, because I know him, it's not the very expensive bottle of wine that he likes to get because anybody anywhere can get it. It's finding a great bottle at a low price, and this one actually, Sonny, is very drinkable. It's the kind of thing that Jose Andres would. Would it mind drinking? And I had lunch with him once. Oh, yes. Not to just name drop, but you know who I am, right? You know who I am. You know who I am. Who's Vic? Who's Vic Matus? I write about food. That's all the time we're giving to this episode. Questions, comments, complaints, compliments, tweet us at Victorino Matus, at Sonny Bunch. At Michael R. Warren. Yeah, but at- Recently verified. Recently. Oh, congratulations. I was holding that. Yeah, I knew it was a big deal. Getting all these random people following me. Yes, suddenly the algorithm changed. You will find your life will change forever. I am. As a result of getting the blue check mark, I am 150 followers away from 2,000 followers. Wow, that's a good job. The blue check is like Topico, so like one a day, maybe? Okay. In 20,000 years, I'll be up to Sonny Bunch. Again, be sure to-
Sonny00:54:05Yeah, but I will be further ahead, though, so you'll never catch me. It's fine.
?00:54:10Damn you.
Vic00:54:11Again, be sure to subscribe to us on iTunes or Google Play. Just type in Substandard, or Stitcher, just type in Substandard under podcast, and we're there. Stitcher. Leave a review. Let's get to 400. Tell your friends, and don't forget, when Jonathan comes back, Substandard show notes might come up again. Yeah. Maybe. Maybe. Until next time.
Sonny00:54:40Mike, how have you enjoyed your time here at the Substandard? It's been great.
Vic00:54:43I feel like I'm getting pushed out. I'm literally getting pushed out the door.
Sonny00:54:46Well, not literally. Yeah.
Vic00:54:48Because I'm taking your stuff down, disconnecting your headphones. It's mean that we don't want you. I can't hear you.
Sonny00:54:53All right. He's done. Sonny just muted him. He's done. He's, we're done.
Vic00:54:57Do you hear something?
Sonny00:54:58All right. Thank you. All right. Bring him back. All right. Is there anything you want to tell our literally ones of thousands of loyal listeners?
Vic00:55:05No, just thank you for referring to me as not JVL. That really sort of. Oh, yes. That was Kyle Foley. Kyle Foley was that?
Sonny00:55:14Kyle Foley did not hyphen JVL.
Vic00:55:16Yeah. Not even the hyphen. I didn't even get a hyphen. Just the not. Not JVL. So I really, that helped my self-esteem quite a bit.
Sonny00:55:21Well, I mean, look, we have, we've, this is now our 41st episode. 41st episode. 41st main F4 episode. And, you know, we've got, we have a loyal audience. They are very upset when things change. I know. Like dogs. They get very weird when, you know, you start, you throw a new situation in front of them and, but I think, I think you handled it pretty well. I think you, what do you think?
Vic00:55:44I'm sure it was fine.
?00:55:47Yeah.
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